It is a time of fear in the face of freedom, a time of an emptying country and swelling cities, a time for the widening of previous roads and the opening of new paths, yet a time when these paths are mined by knowing algorithms of the all-seeing eye. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection. These are the times when maps fade, old landmarks crumble and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread. Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.

Newt Gingrich for President of the Moon

Shrink the size of the federal government – that was the plan Newt Gingrich promised to stick to. Gingrich said we needed to cut wasteful government spending. Frivolous federal projects would have to go, along with the Department of Education, the EPA, Social Security and Medicare.

Cut, cut, cut!

Then, Newt Gingrich discovered that the voters of Florida wanted some pork barrel spending on big NASA projects. Gingrich wanted the votes of people in Florida, so that he could defeat Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential primary to be held there next Tuesday.

So, Newt Gingrich came up with a new promise: Gingrich promised that, if he is elected President, he will have the federal government build a huge permanent colony on the Moon, a base for a new human community that would… collect Moon dust. What’s more, this Moon base would be built in less than eight year.

One thing Gingrich hasn’t been able to explain is how, with the space shuttles out of commission, with the Department of Education destroyed, and with spending on science slashed to a fraction of its previous levels, the federal government could possibly get a permanent human colony on the moon in just eight years. Gingrich hasn’t shared the math that explains how this big government project of his can take place while Gingrich reduces taxes and cuts the size of the budget deficit.

Remember when your mother warned you against trusting people who promise you the Moon? I hope the people of Florida remember that advice, because that’s exactly the maneuver that Newt Gingrich is trying to pull.

So, Newt Gingrich wants to be President so that he can build home for himself on the Moon? Fine. Let’s give it to him. Only, let’s not make him President of the United States of America. Let’s make Newt Gingrich President of the Moon, and then have the Russians ship him off on a Soyuz rocket to serve out his term there, in a capsule on the side of the crater, the ruler of all he can see.

Well you make valid points about how Newt Gingrich wouldn’t be able to do this without said things, but I don’t understand how people are all like “da fuck!? Moon base?!” We should have colonized the moon after landing on it, not four decades later.

WHY should we colonize the moon? Why should we spend huge amounts of money to keep people in such a faraway, biologically unsustainable environment when we don’t even have enough money to maintain affordable college education here on Earth?

Why? Because it’s a complete fantasy to think mankind is going to survive on Earth indefinitely, or even in the next 100 – 200 years, no matter what path we take in society. But America, and really the planet at large more or less doesn’t care about science and exploration anymore, and people are incredibly short-sighted, so it’s most likely a pipe-dream to even think mankind has a chance :p The only reason we even went into space as quick as we did was because the Soviet Union, despite all the flaws with their society, actually did care about science and exploration and the advancement of mankind, it’s just their system sucked at it.

As for money in college, what gives you the idea we don’t have the money for it? It’s not that we don’t, it’s just that the people in power aren’t giving the money to do it.

Um…no? You think people do things always when there’s an immediate benefit? What planet are you living on? :p

“Heck, the only reason we went to the Moon the first time was because of national rivalries. It was a “race,” and like most races, you go home again afterwards.”

Well, not exactly. The Soviet Union did indeed care about space exploration, but the USA just went into it to one-up the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union were the only ones who did any serious space exploration, at great risk to themselves. Notice that after 1991, no serious exploration has continued. The Europeans and Japanese care a bit more about it, but even then, the only ones who still care are the Russians, who are the only ones who are doing any serious attempts to exploring Mars.

Talk about how pathetic we are. I mean Russia is in a much deeper financial and political crisis yet they still put a bigger priority on science and exploration than we do. It’s all about priorities. We only get into space to one up the Soviet Union and prove to the world that the free market “liberal” democracies could also do science well, which I guess wasn’t so true because we practically ditched science after the Soviet Union fell. Our science education is abysmal now. Europe and Russia are beating us to the punch while we scrap all of our science industries and programs cause “they cost too much money”

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